I like this synth at all! I use it as a sample playback keyboard,Because I recently got Korg Z1,too.Together they are a really powerful Couple!I love piano,hammond and drum kit sounds.For analog sounds mmmmm...Z1 does it better!

Rating: 4 out of 5
posted Tuesday-Feb-29-2000 at 05:39

Paul Goetke
a professional user
from USA
writes:

I love this keyboard! It is as versitile as any I have seen. The sounds are great and once you get used to the programming it is quite simple. I have owned many synths in the past and this one is at the top of the list. This is a great keyboard, especially for the price.

Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Monday-Apr-12-1999 at 15:19

Isaac Barry
a professional user
from USA
writes:

All in all, I've been relatively pleased with this synth. (phat phat phat) It's missing a few of the additional features that its larger sibling (EX5) has such as VL synthesis and and a more robust AN unit (poly, AN+FDSP, etc.) but that's why it costs less. I am certainly nowhere near adept enough at the keys to give a rats ass if the action isn't 'stunning'. I wouldn't complain it was smoother and more solid than it is, but I don't really mind and I haven't had any friends complain about it either. I suppose it'll do. (Author duely notes: I am no ""musician"";) But by all means, buy whatever you'd like to use to trigger and pick up the EX5R; the well-roundedness of the remaining features pretty much beat the k-rap out of anything else in any price range. Now the real gripes: (Some of this comes with the fact that this is an entirely new line, so there are bound to be some bugs.) When playing a pattern or song and changing control from one part of the performance to another, a hiccup occurs. If you're in the studio, no big deal, work around it. But I imagine this would aggravate me in a live situation. The engineers were apparently having a long session on the toilet when they brainstormed the design of the optional (why not include this on the unit fer chrissakes?) SCSI interface. A 7MB sample can take around 10 minutes to transfer. Many EX users were insulted by Yamaha's letter responding to the complaints, when it basically tried to excuse the 'performance' as an unfortunate by-product of dealing with complicated high-tech sound stuff. (Wooo....waveforms...) They later assured us all that they were looking into the problem and that they would no longer let Jojo, The Idiot Crack-Smoking Circus Boy handle written responses to customer complaints. I really can't tell you how much I enjoy this beast. I've been waiting for years for something that fulfills all the roles this can in one unit. The EX5 is even dreamier, and if you have the extra cash, go grab it instead. But, when put head to head with other keyboards in its class, it didn't take me long to decide. The sounds are choice. The controls are super-flexible. Learning the interface takes half the time of most other workstations. The effects are orders of magnitude better than those built into any other synth. If you're looking for a Clavinova, yeah you're going to be disappointed. But for those of us who's fingers can forgive and are primarily concerned with sound: Viva EX! (Hell, I saw Stevie Wonder playin one.)